June 2014

As they did in the past Iraqis refuse to surrender their land to the radicals

Pedro Rojo*, IraqSolidaridad

"The Military Council of the Revolution, formed by the former Iraqi army military, youth of the revolution and tribal members, is coordinating the military struggle of different groups against the Maliki government, heir to the political system imposed by the U.S. occupation".

ISIL’s success is evident. In less than one week they could conquer half of northern Iraq nearly without combat. Large parts of the Sunni population regard Baghdad’s Shia government as their prime foe. Actually it was a Sunni coalition which pushed back the pro-Iranian regime, largely congruent with the Iraqi resistance against the US occupation ten years back.

All our party offices were destroyed by the so-called National Guard, which is the legal cover for the neo-Nazi groups. When our people came to the offices they saw people in black uniforms, armed with AK-47s and blockading our offices. They took everything: flags, music systems, computers and even newspapers. It is easily understood that under such conditions no legal, open work is possible.

The so-called elections, held by the Kiev junta on May 25, cannot be considered fair or legitimate. Elections held in the midst of civil war in the East of the country and neo-Nazi terror in the South and Center were not free.

Haytham Manna is a spokesperson of the National Co-ordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB), the main democratic leftist force in Syria. Following extract is a free translation of a text published on the NCB’s website.

The operation was all about generating legitimacy for the bloody military coup of last year. The junta’s methods are well known and resemble those of the decades of lead. The question is whether we are in front of an enduring Arab winter?

On May 29 Ukraine’s acting prime minister Jazenjuk was invited to Aachen, Germany, to laud van Rompuy who has been awarded the Charlemagne prize. Along with him came representatives of Georgia and Moldavia, both countries within the Russian sphere of influence leaning towards the west. The entire event was meant as a political signal against Russia.